World

Farming is the most dangerous profession in the UK, according to figures released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 26 August to coincide with Farm Safety Week.

Trade groups in the US are pushing back against a plan announced by Vice-President Kamala Harris to place a federal ban on “price gouging” in the grocery industry.

The authorities in Greece have imposed a ban on the movement of sheep and goats from farms in an attempt to contain an outbreak of peste des petits ruminants (PPR).

There have been reports of widespread locust and Mormon cricket infestations in at least seven states in the western US.

Almost 1,8 million chickens in Colorado in the US were culled following a serious outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza on a commercial layer farm, prompting authorities there to declare a disaster emergency.

The average farm income in Northern Ireland is expected to fall 46% in the 2023/4 financial year to about £27 345 (about R636 912), down from about £51 043 (R1 188 879) in 2022/3. This was according to new figures released by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) in Northern Ireland.

A new proposal by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has outlined a framework clarifying how competition rules will be enforced in that country’s meat industry.

Following a wide-ranging compromise reached with farmers, industry leaders, labour unions and environmental groups, the Danish government has announced the introduction of a tax on livestock carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from 2030.

Extreme weather is resulting in degraded land in some parts of the world being pushed beyond use. In some of the most deprived regions around the globe, this is reaching a tipping point, which could mean that this land will no longer be able to sustain crops, according to Martin Frick, director of the World Food Programme’s global office.

With domestic consumption of pork in the US declining sharply, experts are hoping that increased demand from Mexico and other trading partners could strengthen prices.

Viatina-19 FIV Mara Movéis, a three-year-old Nelore cow from Brazil, valued at US$4 million (around R75 million), has been named by Guinness World Records as the most expensive cow ever sold at auction.

A group of European farmers staged a protest in Brussels, Belgium, to demand the introduction of legislation to ban the sale of dairy products at prices below production costs.